Mount Zion Temple

The second-floor social hall design and construction was another successful collaboration among the team members resulting in a creative solution to a very difficult structural problem. In the 1960’s, a two-story addition was constructed immediately adjacent to the existing, two-story, bearing wall and structural concrete pan and joist education wing. While the two buildings shared a common wall, they shared neither the same structural system type nor the same second floor elevation. The 1960’s addition is a pre-cast concrete floor and roof plank system that bears on steel columns and beams. Both the bearing wall for the original building and the main steel column for the 1960’s addition would need to be removed in order to accommodate the proposed second floor social hall. This structural feat was accomplished by re-supporting the original building’s roof structure and the 1960’s addition column with a system of over-the-roof steel wide flanges that picked up the original loads and redistributed them to two new steel columns located at the two ends of the social hall. The difference in elevation between the two floor levels was resolved by raising the lower floor up to the higher elevation via a light-weight concrete on metal deck assembly that bears on metal stud knee walls. Due to the difference in floor heights, access between the original building and new social hall was accomplished by the inclusion of a stair and ramp system outside of the new elevator lobby. 

The remainder of the first phase focused on updating the classroom areas. This included the provision of new finishes and air-conditioning throughout the education wing, and the provision of a new ceiling finish and millwork storage assembly that reinforced Mendelsohn’s original design intent of crisp lines and intersections of materials. In fact, the use of modern materials and construction techniques allowed the renovation to more closely follow the original design intentions.                                                     ...Next Page

Second Level Social Hall

Hallway of the remodeled Education Wing.